Until Saturday afternoon, that is.

On Saturday, Halberg was the biggest Scot fan in the entire Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

After closing out their MIAC schedule with a 7-2 win over Hamline on April 25, the Cardinals ­could only sit back and wait to see if their 4-6 conference mark would be good enough to earn them a spot in the six-team conference tournament.

So they waited … and waited … and waited … and waited.

And on Saturday — thanks to Macalester's 5-4 victory over Concordia — the wait was more than worth it, as SMU earned the sixth and final MIAC Tournament invitation.

“Both (assistant) coach Sokolowski and I are very pleased for our team,” said Halberg, whose team actually finished in a sixth-place tie with St. Catherine, but had beaten the Wildcats 5-4 earlier this season to earn the No. 6 seed. “They have put in a great deal of work to accomplish this goal, and we look forward to representing SMU at the MIAC Tennis Championships.”

The Cardinals — who earned their first MIAC Tournament berth since the conference went to the six-team format in 2007 — will square off against third-seeded St. Olaf, which went 8-2 in conference play, at noon on Friday in St. Peter, Minn.

St. Olaf handed SMU an 8-1 setback in their regular-season meeting this season in Owatonna, Minn. The Oles swept through the doubles matches, winning 8-3, 8-4 and 8-3, before winning five of the six singles matches in straight sets. Rebecca Snyder (Eden Prairie, Minn.) collected SMU's lone singles win, posting a 7-5, 7-5 victory over St. Olaf's Caitlin Harper at No. 2 singles.

Fifth-seeded Saint Benedict and fourth-seeded St. Thomas will square off in the other opening-round match Friday. The highest remaining seed will advance to play No. 2 Carleton Saturday at 9 a.m., while the lowest remaining seed will draw top-seeded and host Gustavus in a 9 a.m. Saturday match.

MIAC Women's Tennis Tournament Website